Productions

Musical by John Kander

Based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood

Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Book by Joe Masteroff
Music Director Kaspar Mänd
Conductors Lauri Sirp, Jaan Ots
Stage Director AnnaKarin Hirdwall (Sweden)
Designer Caroline Romare (Sweden)
Lighting Designer Peter Stockhaus (Sweden)
Choreographer Adrienne Åbjörn (Sweden)

World premiere on November 20, 1966 in Broadhurst Theatre

Berlin 1929. The ideas about The New World are growing stronger. But at the Kit Kat Klub, everyone is still welcome. Sally Bowles is the star of the club and together with the emcee she tries to keep the dream of freedom alive. Then she meets Clifford Bradshaw, an American writer who has come to Berlin in search of himself. In a Germany where the Nazis are marching ever louder, this love story unfolds in the shadow of an approaching world war.

“Cabaret” is one of Broadway’s legendary masterpieces, a musical with a serious underlying theme, depicting the impact on the lives of ordinary people caught up in the increasing decadence of Germany in the 1930s. The musical caused a sensation when it made its 1966 Broadway debut, and the season ran for nearly 2000 performances. The wild freedom and abandon of the time establishes an environment of spiritual, artistic and sexual freedom that was soon to be destroyed by the Nazi regime.

AnnaKarin Hirdwall: “Have you ever let your wants and dreams pass you by out of fear of the consequences of pursuing them? In this piece I want to tell you about how people get affected by fear and how we become who we are. Do we live our lives imprisoned or free in truth? Can we enable personal and societal change in the future or do we hold back and cling to the old world in fear of renewal? I want to welcome the audience into a world populated by characters who believe, wish, love, dare, dream and hope – despite forces that want to limit, control, straighten and intimidate into fear and silence”.